Apple has launched its annual ‘Back to School’ promotion which offers educational discount to qualifying customers. This years promotion offers up to $100 store gift card when purchasing a Mac and $50 on iPhone / iPad purchase.

The App Store gift card can be used to download music, books, apps and games from Apple’s App Store, Mac App Store, iTunes Store, and iBookstore. This is the first time the company is offering the back to school promo on iPhone, previously the offer was made available only on Mac purchase.

Apple has moved away from giving a free iPod touch in 2010 during the back to school promotion and since the last few years has been giving store gift cards instead. The company now offers all of its software from the digital store on the Mac and these gift cards will introduce new Mac owners to the Mac App Store and encourage them to explore the huge collection of software.

The Back to School promo coincides perfectly with the recent launch of the new MacBook Air lineup with faster processor and all-day 12 hour battery life. Students who had been waiting to purchase the new MacBook Air can now get the latest MacBook with student discount and even get a free copy of OS X Mavericks when it launches later this fall.

What do you think about Apple’s back to school promotion? Will you be buying a new Mac this summer? Let us know in the comments below.

With Apple’s iTunes in the Cloud service in over 115 countries, the Cupertino, California based company is consistently looking to expand. On Wednesday, Apple added movie support to the iTunes in the Cloud service for 11 new European countries.

The new countries include, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Users in these countries who previously downloaded content from the iTunes Store will be able to re-download all of it.

Other updates to the service include the availability of TV shows in France, as reported by French site iGen. TV show availability on iTunes in the Cloud has seen a very limited rollout, with France becoming only the fifth country to have the feature after the U.S, Australia, Canada, and the U.K. Apple’s iTunes in the Cloud service was launched in the United States in June of 2011, followed by the addition of TV shows and movies in March 2012.

Apple has gradually added the availability of movies in a number of countries, bringing it to above 100 countries. Apple’s iTunes in the Cloud is very similar to its other services and even its products, in the sense that it is not open sourced for storing any type of file and that it stays within the Apple ecosystem.

{Via MacRumors}

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple Inc. (AAPL) is looking to increase sales of its products in India, which is quickly becoming one of the larger markets in the world. The report notes that AAPL is ‘making moves’ to increase sales, meaning that the company is starting to build a larger presence by increasing the number of employees and is going around wireless carriers to control majority of its marketing efforts. Recently, Apple launched the iTunes Store in India, followed by the Apple TV earlier this month.

Apple is sidestepping wireless carriers to seize greater control over marketing in India and offering no-interest loans to lure lower-income consumers. The company has also boosted staff in India by 30% to 170 employees in the past six months. And it is ramping up the introduction of other products, with the Apple TV video-streaming gadget expected to reach stores in coming weeks, people familiar with the matter say.

The result is that Apple shipped more than 252,000 iPhones to India in the quarter through December, more than triple the number in the previous three months, according to research firm Canalys.

Many reports have even suggested that Apple is looking into bringing its retail stores to the subcontinent, and is likely laying the groundwork to do so. India is ideal for Apple’s entrance into emerging markets, with recent reports suggesting that Apple is looking into building a cheaper iPhone. Samsung, which has become a major competitor for Apple has seen success with its line of Galaxy S devices, as well as cheaper Android devices that sell for around $100.

If Apple were to introduce a cheaper iPhone, it would make sense to introduce it in India, where demand for the company’s products is increasing and where smartphones are not subsidized and operate on prepaid plans. With retail stores in India coupled with the online store, Apple would be able to sell more units of its products and as a result, increase its revenue in the region. China has become one of Apple’s largest sources of revenue, so it is not surprising that India is also beginning to see a demand for Apple products.

Last December, Apple launched the iTunes Store for music and movies in 56 new countries, including India and has now officially launched the Apple TV. According to BGR, Apple is now selling the Apple TV in India for Rs 8,295 including taxes, which comes out to about $153 USD. During the holiday season, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the company sold 2 million Apple TV devices during the holiday quarter, which is a 60% growth from over year ago.

With the Apple TV now being sold in India and other regions that were withheld from the initial release, Apple is looking at an increase in revenue from both music and movies. India’s Bollywood is the second largest film industry in the world after the United State’s own Hollywood and with Indian movies being included on the Apple TV, it presents Apple with major opportunities for revenue growth.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has noted in the past that a television is an “intense area of interest”, with recent reports that the company is already working on a television set, which will likely include all of the features of the Apple TV set top box, as well as other features such as AirPlay connectivity with iOS devices and the Mac.

{Via MacRumors}

Apple recently announced a major milestone for its iTunes Music Store, hitting 25 Billion downloads. Last March, Apple’s App Store hit 25 billion downloads, with the company giving out a $10,000 gift card to the person who downloaded the 25 billionth app. Apple did not launch a promotion for the milestone as it has done in the past with apps and previous music downloads however, did give €10,000 iTunes Gift Card to the winner.

The 25 billionth song, “Monkey Drums” (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch, was purchased by Phillip Lüpke from Germany. As the downloader of the 25 billionth song, Phillip will receive a €10,000 iTunes® Gift Card.

“We are grateful to our users whose passion for music over the past 10 years has made iTunes the number one music retailer in the world,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Averaging over 15,000 songs downloaded per minute, the iTunes Store connects music fans with their favorite artists, including global sensations like Adele and Coldplay and new artists like The Lumineers, on a scale we never imagined possible.

Apple’s iTunes Store currently offers over 26 million songs, which are available in over 119 countries. Apple launched its iTunes Music Store in 2003 and will celebrate its tenth anniversary this April.

As Apple grew exponentially after the introduction of the iPhone and iPad, the company’s online services such as the App Store and Music Store continue to flourish. The services are key parts of the Apple ecosystem which binds together the hardware with the software.

{Via MacRumors}

Apple has been widely rumored to be working on subscription based music streaming service for iOS devices. When Apple purchased LaLa, many believed that the company would introduce a streaming service. However, the purchase turned out to be to acquire talent to develop iTunes Match service.

Evad3rs released their ‘evasi0n’ unthethered jailbreak for iPhone5 on Tuesday and now 9to5Mac points us to hidden radio icons in iOS 6.1 release. Jailbreaking the iPad with evasi0n and then going through the files in Music.app revealed references to “radio button” with icons bearing resemblance to radio streaming icon in iTunes. Further, it was found that the button files are labeled with “buy” in the filename.

Many news publications like Bloomberg and WSJ previously reported on rumors about Apple working on Pandora competitor and cited music label licensing deals as being one of the hurdles being faced by the company. If those rumors are to be believed and with the hidden radio icons being revealed in iOS 6.1 is any indication then we could be seeing Apple announcing a new music subscription service soon.

Apple could be looking at allowing users to stream music tailored to their taste using the genius data and then integrating it with the iTunes store to allow purchase of favourite tracks. iTunes music store was recently made available in 56 new countries and the Cupertino, Calif. based company could now be looking at launching a music streaming service.

During this year’s September iPhone and iPod event, Apple also introduced iTunes 11. The Cupertino, Calif. based company released the newest update on Thursday, with a number of new features, such as a redesigned App Store, a mini player, and playback syncing. Other features include:

– Completely Redesigned. iTunes makes it more fun to explore and enjoy your music, movies, and TV shows. You’ll love the beautiful edge-to-edge design, custom designs for each album, movie, or TV show in your library, and getting personal recommendations any time you click in the Store.

– A New Store. The iTunes Store has been completely redesigned and now features a clean look that makes it simpler than ever to see what’s hot and discover new favorites.

– Play purchases from iCloud. Your music, movie, and TV show purchases in iCloud now appear inside your library. Just sign-in with your Apple ID to see them. Double-click to play them directly from iCloud or download a copy you can sync to a device or play while offline.

– Up Next. It’s now simple to see which songs are playing next, all from a single place. Just click the Up Next icon in the center display and they’ll instantly appear. You can even reorder, add, or skip songs whenever you like.

– New MiniPlayer. You can now do a whole lot more with a lot less space. In addition to showing what’s playing, MiniPlayer now includes album art, adds Up Next, and makes it easy to search for something new to play – all from a smaller and more elegant design.

– Improved search. It’s never been easier to find what you’re looking for in iTunes. Just type in the search field and you’ll instantly see results from across your entire library. Select any result and iTunes takes you right to it.

– Playback syncing. iCloud now remembers your place in a movie or TV show for you. Whenever you play the same movie or episode from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple TV, it will continue right where you left off.

Apple delayed iTunes 11 because of engineering issues, and The Wall Street Journal’s Jessica E. Lessin commented, mentioning that parts of the new iTunes had to be rebuilt.

The new iTunes has been delayed a month by engineering issues that required parts to be rebuilt, according to people who have seen it.

Following the major management shake up at Apple, and the departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall, senior vice president of internet services, Eddy Cue took over all projects related to iCloud alongside his existing projects with iTunes, iTunes Store, and the App Store. Cue also took over Maps and Siri, after both failed to function as advertised and Apple received numerous complaints from customers.

With Cue running all of these services more strictly now, it is no wonder that iTunes 11 is delayed unless it can be guaranteed to operate the way it is expected to. The newest version of iTunes, iTunes 11 is now available for download on the Mac App Store and on the iTunes page as well.

{Via iMore}

Time Inc. and Apple have had a longstanding relationship, which hasn’t always been the best. According to a report from AllThingsD, Time Inc has now negotiated and announced that they will begin to offer a number of their magazines through Digital Magazine subscriptions in Apple’s Newsstand. About 2 years ago, Time Inc. backed out of plans to introduced Sports Illustrated through Newsstand because they refused to follow Apple’s rule that the company bill customers through the iTunes Store billing method and instead opted to bill customers directly through their own service.

As a result, the deal fell through and was not brought up until now. Time Inc. mentioned in the press release that they are looking to introduce all 20 of their magazines through the Newsstand Digital Magazine model, a collection that includes magazines such as Time, People, and Fortune. Even though Time Inc. didn’t follow Apple’s digital magazine subscription, allowed print subscribers of their magazines to access the full issues on the iPad. This is the first time that Time will be working with Apple on subscriptions and will give up a portion of its new subscription revenue.

It still remains unclear what caused the two companies to hash out a deal, as noted by AllThingsD. However, it is likely that Apple showed that Time could benefit from their widespread user base and Time did the same with their reader base. It appears that in this deal, both companies have a chance to benefit one way or another.

It could be as simple as Time Inc. trying to boost sales, which haven’t been stellar recently — a slump at its People magazine title is particularly troublesome for the publisher. Or perhaps parent company Time Warner got some other concession from Apple for one of its other units, like HBO or Turner.

Pricing for the digital subscriptions via iTunes has not yet been announced, but will likely be similar in price to some titles that Time currently offers, such as Sports Illustrated which sells for a $3.99 monthly rate or a $38.99 annual rate. A portion of that money will go to Apple, which is what initially prevented Time from entering a deal with the Cupertino based company.

{via MacRumors}

Earlier in the week, Apple released iOS 5.1.1 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and now the company has updated the Apple TV to version 5.0.1. The update doesn’t bring any major features to the set top box, but now allows previews of movies and TV shows to be viewed in HD. Previously, the TV shows and movies could only be viewed in HD after the customer purchased it. In addition to this new feature, the update also brings a few minor bug fixes to the 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TV models. Other minor updates for the Apple TV include:

iTunes previews – Previews for movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store can now be viewed in HD.
AirPlay – Fixes an issue that caused some iOS apps to have trouble connecting via AirPlay.
Home Sharing – Improves the reliability of Home Sharing connections.
Netflix – Addresses an issue affecting Netflix login and navigation.
Stability and performance – Includes fixes for issues affecting stability and performance.

The update is now available directly on the Apple TV and can be downloaded by going to Settings>General>Update Software. Apple, with this latest update, is likely stabilizing the minor bug fixes and patching up issues in iOS 5 before the company releases iOS 6, the next version of its mobile software.

{via MacRumors}

Apple introduced its iTunes Match services last November, allowing its users to create a music locker by matching their music libraries with songs available on iTunes from major music labels and artists. After bringing the service over to a number of countries, including Brazil last December, the company has now decided to release it in a list of new countries including Austria, Greece, and Italy.

Earlier Tuesday, MacRumors received reports that Apple was planning to launch iTunes Match in new countries, with many users reporting that they were prompted to agree to updated iTunes Store terms and conditions while others were unable to complete registration for the Match service.

Apple’s support document for the service has a running list of all the countries that the service is available in, however, at this point has not been updated and does not contain other countries slated to receive the music locker, such as Bulgaria, Portugal, and Slovenia. Alongside the feature of iTunes Match, users should also be able to use iTunes in the Cloud features as well, allowing them to re-download any previously purchased app, song, or music video from iTunes.

Apple’s introduction of the iTunes Match service in a number of international countries is only one of the many ways that the company is targeting customers abroad. iTunes Match is a different approach to the “cloud”, allowing users to access copies of the music files in their library as opposed to spending hours uploading their entire music and video libraries.

{via MacRumors}

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has long been selling movies and television shows on its iTunes Store. Now, according to a Reuters report, the company is reportedly planning to bring EPIX movie streaming to the Apple TV, and likely the new rumored Apple television set. AAPL has been rumored to be in talks at this point, with no specific dates as to when the service will be available, if it ever does happen.

One of the sources told Reuters that any discussions would apply to its set-top box and also to upcoming devices that stream content. Apple is widely expected to unveil a full-fledged TV product later this year or in early 2013 to drive its next phase of growth and potentially revolutionize the industry.

Sources for the Reuters report suggest that negotiations between Apple and EPIX are still developing and that no deal should be expected in the near future. Bringing EPIX content to Apple TV and future Apple devices would allow the Cupertino company to develop and sell exclusive content, not available on a number of other devices.

Apple may also be waiting out a contract between EPIX and Netflix, which doesn’t end until later this September. Once this contract has ended, Apple will likely go ahead and secure a deal with EPIX.

{via MacRumors}

Apple’s App Store was released to the public in 2008, and started off with only a handful of apps. The App Store has since grown to become one of the largest online services in the world, suppling millions of iOS users with fun and intuitive applications. On Friday, Apple’s App Store finally hit the 25 billion downloads mark, making it the highest number of apps ever downloaded.

The winner of the promotion, who has not yet been announced, will be awarded a $10,000 gift card valid for App Store, Mac App Store, or any other iTunes Store content. Apple has conducted similar promotions in the past, for the App Store and iTunes Store and offered a range of products from iPod touch to Macbook Pro. The prize for 25 billion downloads is a $10,000 giftcard for online purchases with no hardware.

Apple has approved a total of nearly three quarters of a million apps for the App Store, with over 550,000 of them currently available in the store.

After its introduction in 2008, it took roughly two and a half years to reach 10 Billion downloads, and another six months to 15 billion downloads. With the latest 25 billion milestone, the iTunes Store acheived over 10 billion of the 25 billion mark in only 8 months, the fastest downloading period ever for the App Store.

The winner of Apple’s App Store promotion is expected to announced in the coming week once the company has verified the results and contacted the winner.

{via Mac Rumors}

Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs adored The Beatles and considered them to be an important part of music history, revolutionizing music as we know it. Apple and The Beatles have had a long history, with The Beatles using the Apple name for many aspects of their business.

Eventually, the two sides came into settlement, which led up to a 2007 agreement that Apple obtain the trademark and license it back to The Beatles for their own uses.

Beginning today, fans around the world can, for the first time, purchase ringtones for the Beatles’ 27 UK and US #1 hits, exclusively on iTunes.

Now, The Beatles are following up on their iTunes debut with Exclusive ringtones, available through the iTunes Store. The ringtones are 30 seconds long, like all others, and are priced at $1.29 apiece. The full list of The Beatles ringtones include:

“Love Me Do”, “From Me to You”, “She Loves You”, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, “I Feel Fine”, “Eight Days a Week”, “Ticket to Ride”, “Help!”, “Yesterday”, “Day Tripper”, “We Can Work It Out”, “Paperback Writer”, “Yellow Submarine”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Penny Lane”, “All You Need Is Love”, “Hello, Goodbye”, “Lady Madonna”, “Hey Jude”, “Get Back”, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, “Something”, “Come Together”, “Let It Be”, and “The Long and Winding Road”.

With the addition of The Beatle’s music in November 2010, Apple has featured The Beatles numerous times in their stores, including an exclusive free animated e-book of Yellow Submarine on the iBookstore, and numerous television ads for The Beatle’s music on iTunes.

Rumors earlier in the week suggested that Apple Inc. (AAPL) was looking to roll out their iTunes in the Cloud services to its Japanese users, and on Wednesday, Apple did exactly that. This allows Japanese users to freely download previous content from the iTunes Store.

A report from 9to5Mac also revealed that AAPL included a number of other features to the Japanese iTunes Store, including iTunes Plus, 3G downloads, Ringtones, and Complete My Album. Apple has posted a What’s New page [Google translation] on its Japanese iTunes site, highlighting some of the new features:

– 3G downloads: Music downloads from iOS devices had previously been restricted to Wi-Fi only, but users can now access content over 3G networks.

– iTunes Plus: The Japanese iTunes Store now supports the DRM-free 256 kbps iTunes Plus format, up from the previous 128 kbps versions carrying usage restrictions. Labels will need to upgrade their content to the new standard, so it may take some time for all music to become available in iTunes Plus format.

– Ringtones: Music ringtones are now available for purchase in the Japanese iTunes Store.

– Mastered for iTunes: Rolling out on a worldwide basis, Apple is now featuring songs and albums that have been specifically mastered for the iTunes Store to provide the best sound quality for the format.

– Complete My Album: Users who previously purchased individual tracks from an album can now purchase the entire album for a discounted price based on a credit for their individual-track purchases.

With the latest update, Apple has not brought over almost all of the new features, except the iTunes Match service, currently available in only 37 countries. The iTunes Match service allows users to match or upload their entire music libraries to access from any iCloud-enabled device.

Apple has not commented as to whether they will bring over that service to the Japanese iTunes Store, but reports suggest that Apple is looking to bring over the service during the first half of 2012. A large part of Apple’s revenue stream now comes from Japan and China, only two of the countries in Apple’s Asian market.

{via MacRumors}

Apple has posted a new page on their website, counting down to a total of 25 billion App Store downloads since its introduction in 2008 with iOS 2. The user who downloads the 25 billionth app or who submits an entry form during that time will win a $10,000 Apple Gift Card which can be applied to any of Apple’s online media, including the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store.

As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card. Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet.

The winner must download the app after the 24,999,999,999th app download or submit the form, whichever comes first and will later be announced on the web page if they are the winner. Apple has done such promotions in the past, including ten billion App Store downloads taking place just over a year ago and another one for ten billion iTunes Music Store downloads, as well as one billion song and app marks and at the 100 million song milestone.

Apple changed the prize to a $10,000 gift card last year after giving away big time prizes including Macbook Pros, iPhones, and iPod Touches in the past. Apple’s countdowns have gained much attention over the past few years and have become a part of Apple’s massive success with their online stores and online sales. The 25 Billion App countdown is expected to end early tomorrow, with App downloads about 500,000 away from 25 Billion.

On Thursday, Apple announced, at a special education event in New York City that they have updated the iBooks application to iBooks 2 for iPad to accommodate interactive textbooks, something that has remained unchanged for generations. Apple is looking to redefine the usgae and distribution of textbooks and information, and is using its already available iBookStore and bracnhing out.

Introducing iBooks 2 — now with iBooks textbooks.

– Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad
– iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos
– Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more
– Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook
– Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms
– Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page

With the addition of textbooks in iBooks 2, Apple is trying to make textbooks into what the App Store is today, by increasing reliance on Apple’s services to get books and materials for students. This is very similiar to how Apple created the iTunes Store, revolutionizing music, and the App Store.

Apple is currently partnering with McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which are responsible for 90% of textbook sales in the United States. McGraw-Hill and Pearson are releasing several titles for the iPad today and will be releasing more as time progresses.

Prices of textbooks range from $14.99 or less and allow authors of the textbooks to add information as they like through their ‘iBooks Author’ app which allows users to create their own textbooks. iBooks, which caused a small stir during its introduction and is slowly picking up as a major part of Apple’s education movement.

iBooks 2 is currently available in the App Store as an update to the current application.

The jailbreak community has always tried and been successful in giving users more options to customize their iOS device. Even as Apple tries its best to plug the security holes and bugs to get rid of ‘jailbreak’ the community continues to find new bugs and release updated tools to make jailbreaking possible.

The latest hack being developed by iOS developers Steven Troughton-Smith and TheMudKip is for second gen Apple TV that enables you to run iPhone / iPad apps at full screen on your HDTV. In order to achieve this the developers used a coded a custom Springboard for a jailbroken Apple TV.

Second gen Apple TV includes Apple’s A4 chip which is also used in fourth gen iPhone and iPod touch. A video posted on YouTube by the developers shows that iOS apps run quite well on the Apple TV. This is just a proof of concept as the hack appears to be still under development and not available for the public as yet.

Apple has been rumored to be developing Apple television and various rumors and reports in the past have suggested that the company could introduce apps specifically for its television and even expand iTunes store content to offer users more reasons to buy Apple’s television.

In Steve Jobs’ biography it was first time revealed that Apple was indeed researching a simple interface for the television and that Jobs had finally figured the way to build a TV with “simplest user interface you could imagine,”.

{via MacRumors}

Steve Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, in front a small audience, followed by a major announcement of iTunes, which lead to one of the greatest music revolutions in history. iTunes, paired with millions of iPods, iPhones, and iPads, transformed the distribution, consumption, and creation of music around the world, and made material music such as CD’s almost obsolete.

After Steve’s passing in October, the world continues to realize the true impact that he made on the music industry and the transformation of the technological industry that Apple’s products caused. On Friday, The Recording Academy announced they’ll be honoring Steve Jobs with a Special Merit Grammy Award for revolutionizing the music industry with the highly successful iTunes Music Store.

As former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs helped create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books. A creative visionary, Jobs’ innovations such as the iPod and its counterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionized the industry and how music was distributed and purchased. In 2002 Apple Computer Inc. was a recipient of a Technical GRAMMY Award for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The company continues to lead the way with new technology and in-demand products such as the iPhone and iPad.

The Recording Academy will be holding a special event on Saturday, February 11th in order to honor numerous visionaries with Lifetime Achievement Awards as well as Technical Grammy Awards. The Academy will also be honoring Jobs with a Trustee Award honoring Steve Jobs the following day.

The impact of Apple’s products under Steve Jobs’ guidance can be seen all around the world, and with the influence that his products had on the music and computing industry, there is no doubt that Steve Jobs is the right person to receive the award.

{via TiPb}

The expectation was that Apple were waiting for iOS 4.2 to land, but Ping is now available thanks to an update to Apple’s iTunes Store. It’s not the first time Apple has updated features from the on-device store without needing a software update, and is clearly one of the benefits of operating a web-based solution.

To access Ping on an iPad, fire up the iTunes app and tap the newly arrived Ping tab. In there you’ll find all the usual Ping goodness, including who you’re following, who follows you and so on.

The only issue now is, does Ping provide enough functionality to make it worthwhile, even with support on the iPad.

Another developer by the name of WiiSHii Network has employed what looks like a similar scheme to that employed by the Vietnamese outfit to get a large number of very similar apps, with limited functionality to the top of the Travel Section on the App Store.

A reader of the technology site Ars Technia contacted them to report that she had had around $168 worth of apps from this developer fraudulently put on her account.

Without further information it is hard to guess how wide spread this particular hack is. But bearing in mind that the sections that both these scams have targeted are areas of the App Store with relatively low numbers of Apps in them. Around 1500 in the travel section, for example. It seems that this again is linked to a relatively small number of compromised accounts.

Ars Technica criticise Apple for suggesting that affected customers file a fraud report with their credit card company if this happens to them. Saying that it is not a convenient solution.

They then suggest that people monitor their accounts for suspicious purchases. Which in itself it not very effective because Apple typically batch App Store receipts, and they get sent out a day or more after purchases are made.

As we suggested before: Make sure your iTunes App Store account password is unusual, and has a mix of letters, numbers and different cases in it. Change your password if you think that it may be known, or it has been the same for a long time.

Other than that do remember that with millions of customers it is quite likely that some accounts will be hacked from time to time, and that whilst this story is not trivial it does not mean that iTunes is collapsing under a massive coordinated attack!

Has your account been hacked? Have you seen any suspicious purchases? Let us know in the comments…

Some pundits are still trying to make the case for it being a much bigger hack than Apple claims. Their logic is based on erroneous assumptions of how hard it is to get into the Top 50 apps in any particular category in the App Store. In actual fact 400 accounts, each downloading one copy of an app over a period of a couple of days is more than enough to propel apps up the iTunes charts to lofty positions in many of the categories.

A few sites have picked up on the news today that Apple was briefly advertising for an “iTunes Fraud Prevention Specialist”. This post would be based in Austin, Texas, and require a candidate who could work to “cancel fraudulent orders” and “research and resolve fraud escalations from various sources”. Which basically translates to liaising with Credit Card companies, and customers via them.

It is interesting timing from Apple. But with it being general knowledge that a trickle of iTunes accounts are regularly being traded on the Chinese Black Market it seems a sensible move. And probably one that Apple has been mulling over for some time.

The job ad was pulled down quite quickly today. Which seems like a strange move from Apple. Some are interpreting this as them trying to avoid bad PR. But perhaps they simply found their candidate that quickly. There are a few people with the required skills floating around from bank meltdowns in recent history, after all!

In any case, Apple seem to be aware of the threat and are working to ensure that their records stays as clean as possible moving forward.

Are you worried about iTunes fraud? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…

Great Tank War [rating: 3.5/5]

Great Tank War for iPhone is an arcade dual-stick shooter based in World War II where you take control of a variety of tanks and blast your way through level after level of level of battles.

The dual-stick controls work very well and are nice and responsive with the left thumb-stick controlling your movement while the right thumb-stick controls the firepower of your tank. While these controls seem very simplistic they offer a lot of control and the right thumb-stick will not only fire your tanks cannon but also the secondary weapon whether that be the standard missile or one of the upgradable items such as the Pounder Firefly, Flamethrower, Calliope or 105MM howitzer.

The whole app has a nice military theme to it, from navigation menus to the game itself it’s very in keeping with the World War II theme. The sound effects in the game are good too and when you are under attack from multiple sources the sound only adds to the overall frenzy and action that is felt. Having said that it would be nice if there was a great variety of sounds when the soldiers die rather than the same one repeated over and over again!

It’s difficult to tell how many levels there are in total and how much variety there is but of the levels I’ve completed there are split equally between survival mode where you have to stay alive for a certain amount of time and Destroy Mode where you have a certain amount of time to clear the level of all enemies whether they be on foot or at the wheel of a tank.

Death can not only come from the enemy on the ground but also from bombs that are dropped from planes flying overhead. You can’t shoot at the planes but avoiding the bombs is relatively easy, despite the speed of your tank, thanks to the destination of the bombs being marked on the ground. The same can be said for the men that parachute in and rather than having to wait for them to land before you can kill them, you can also place your take beneath them and they will die as soon as they land on your tank.

While the controls are easy to pick up the same can not be said of the difficulty level of the game itself where I find multiple attempts were required to complete even some of the early levels and while this adds longevity to the game it would be nice if there were options to how difficulty the game was so that both beginners and advanced players could play the game on a level playing field.

The other thing that makes the game a little difficult is the ability to upgrade your tanks. Upgrading is done via earning gold from pick-ups within the game, however the amount of gold you are able to pick up compared to the amount that is needed for even the smallest of upgrades required you to complete multiple levels before it becomes attainable.

It’s also disappointing to see that there is no multi-player option available as Great Tank War would be a great two play game with only some minor changes to the game-play. Perhaps this will be introduced in a future update.

If you are quick you should be able to pick up Great Tank War for a mere 99c which is a bargain especially if they continue to release updates to the game, at it’s full price of $4.99 the game becomes less great value for money.

Pros

• Great WWII themed action
• Great looking and sounding
• Simple and effective controls

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• No multi-player mode
• Too slow to upgrade tank

Price: $0.99 (iTunes Store)
Category: Games
Released: Jul 01, 2010
Version: 1.0.0
Size: 30.8 MB
Language: English
Seller: SK Telecom
© JELLYOASIS INC. ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

What seemed to be happening was that some hacked individuals iTunes accounts, that have been readily available on the Chinese Black Market for some time, were being used to game App Store metrics and push a certain developer’s apps up to the top of the App Store rankings. Thus generating sales for them.

The apps themselves were mostly copyright infringing copies of Japanese Manga that the developer had duplicated and was selling under his own name. Apple were fairly quick to react when developers used to occupying those rankings on the App Store were bumped down by an influx of these fairly dodgy looking Vietnamese apps. Upon investigation the website for the developer was shown to not even be real.

Phil Schiller got involved over the weekend and contacted these, and other concerned developers to tell them that Apple were looking into it. The errant developer was fairly quickly removed from the App Store, along with all of his apps.

And today Apple issued this statement on the issue…

The developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns.

Developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded.

If your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about cancelling the card and issuing a chargeback for any unauthorised transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately. For more information on best practices for password security visit http://www.apple.com/support/itunes.

When you consider just how many iTunes accounts there are, and how many probably have passwords with people’s pet’s names, or their favourite food – despite users always being advised to use more secure passwords – it is hardly surprising that accounts get hacked from time to time. As long as you are using a decent password for your iTunes account, and only connect via Apple’s site, or iTunes then you should be OK.

If you are concerned about your account or credit card being on file with Apple, then perhaps consider using a card with a lower limit, or taking your card off when you are not using the account. Or perhaps use PayPal as a payment option.

At the end of the day this was not a massive hack on the iTunes store, and you are no more likely to be exposed through iTunes to this kind of thing than you are when using your credit card in a real store or on any other web site like Amazon for example. As long as you use sensible passwords, and practice fairly common sense protocols when shopping online!

The point is that this is not an “Apple Issue”, it’s an internet issue, but with Apple being so high profile at the moment people love to jump on these stories and blow them out of all proportion.

Personally I think Apple reacted very quickly to this problem, and seem to have cleared the whole thing up quite satisfactorily.

Are you worried about the security of iTunes? Have you had your account hacked? Let us know in the comments…

Earlier this week Apple filed for trademark for ‘iTunesLive’. At this stage it is not clear how Apple intends to use it but it is possible it could be a sign that more live music is coming to the iTunes store.

According to Patently Apple the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently published Apple’s trademark filing for ‘iTunes Live”. This trademark falls under two international classes:

• International Class 035: Online retail store services in the field of entertainment featuring prerecorded musical, audio and audiovisual content
• International Class 041: Entertainment services, namely, arranging and conducting of concerts and live musical performances

Again it is still not clear from those details, what it is that Apple have in mind. The availablity of live performances and concerts though is certainly possible. Apple already have had live in-store concerts around the world in London, New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Montreal and Munich. It is therefore possible Apple is preparing to take this a step further.

Another speculation reported by Slashgear was that it could be ‘Live Connected’ Cloud Jukebox Style System.

A mobile service that could in-effect funnel a huge database of media from a central repository to any of Apple’s wireless-connected devices would certainly be a compelling option for those with more songs than space on their iPad or iPhone, and Apple seldom leave a successful niche satisfied solely by third-party app vendors. Integration with Apple’s own servers, meanwhile, would present a way for them to further monetize Genius predictions.

All this speculation could still lead to nothing but it definitely looks promising that Apple will provide the consumer with more live content in the very near future.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s iTunes Live trademark? Let us know in the comments section below.